School Meals Archives - World Food Policy Center

E221: Understanding Poverty, Wellbeing, and Food Security for US Children

November 30, 2023

As the parent of a 12-year-old child, I know that raising a child is one of the most profound and rewarding experiences of a person’s life. It is also shockingly expensive. The high cost of child rearing is particularly difficult for families with limited resources. To help us think through this issue, it is my great pleasure to welcome a colleague here at Duke: Dr. Christina Gibson-Davis, Professor of Public Policy. Christina studies economic inequality, and particularly how it affects families with children.

E215: When Kids Age Out of WIC Support

September 25, 2023

The third largest food assistance program in the United States is the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, or WIC for short. WIC is designed to safeguard the health of low-income women, infants, and children up to the age of five who are at risk of inadequate nutrition. WIC provides funds for specific foods to supplement diets, information on healthy eating, and referrals to healthcare. However, regardless of school attendance and access to school meals, children age out of the program the month after their fifth birthday. Today, I am talking with the University of Georgia’s Travis Smith, an agricultural economist who, along with his co-author, Pourya Valizedah studied the effects of aging out of WIC on children’s diets.

E203: It works – Chile’s Law on Food Labeling and Marketing

April 18, 2023

In 2016, the Chilean government implemented a comprehensive set of obesity prevention policies aimed at improving the food environment for children. Results from a multi-year study of that regulation, published in the International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, can now tell us if Chilean children are better off as a result of the policy. Guests on this podcast include: Dr. Gabriela “Gabi” Fretes. She is an Associate Research Fellow at the International Food Policy Research Institute. Dr. Camila Corvalan is the Director of the Center for Research in Food Environments and the Prevention of Chronic Diseases Associated with Nutrition at the University of Chile. And, Dr. Sean Cash is an economist, Associate Professor of Agriculture, Food, and the Environment, and the Bergstrom Foundation Professor in Global Nutrition at Tufts University

E190: Insights from 2nd Global Survey of School Meals

December 13, 2022

School meal programs provide children with needed meals, snacks, and even take home foods throughout the world. These programs have a tremendous impact on children’s overall nutrition, physical, and emotional development, and their academic performance, as you can imagine. Much can be learned from a project that is entitled The Global Survey of School Meal Programs. Today we will be speaking about the second such survey with Global Child Nutrition Foundation Research Coordinator, Ayala Wineman, from Michigan State University.

Related podcasts: Child Development & Nutrition | Equity, Race & Food Justice | Food Insecurity | School Meals |

E136: When North Carolina Schools Offer Free Meals Academic Success Follows

August 19, 2021

For youngsters in school, nutritional meals really do lead the higher grades and better performance across the board. Today we’ll explore a policy called the Community Eligibility Provision or CEP that allows schools in low-income areas to offer free meals to all students. We have two guests today. Marianne Hedrick Weant, Programs Manager at the North Carolina Alliance for Health and Dr. Sarah Crittenden Fuller, Research Associate Professor at The University of North Carolina and a proud Duke alum from our own program. She’s also the coauthor of a new policy brief on this topic, entitled Meals Matter, The Community Eligibility Provision and Students’ Success in North Carolina.

E113: The Power of Policy and Parents in School Meals

February 11, 2021

It wasn’t that long ago that there was a nutrition free-for-all in schools where sugary beverages, high calorie snack foods, and even things like pizzas and cheeseburgers direct from fast food chains were part of the food landscape in schools. What do you think the situation is today? Has it deteriorated even further? Has it improved or stayed about the same? Today’s guest, Dr. Marlene Schwartz, is a champion for improved nutrition and physical activity in schools and one of the leading experts in the field. Schwartz is director of the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity and Professor of Human Development and Family Studies at the University of Connecticut. She’s an expert on nutrition and physical activity policies in schools and preschools nationwide, and has collaborated in particular with the Connecticut Department of Education on their policies.

E81: Time for Universal Free School Meals

July 28, 2020

This podcast is part of series focused on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our food system. When the pandemic forced schools to close, school districts and states scrambled to keep a nutritional safety net working for vulnerable students. Millions of US students rely on school meals and summer feeding programs to get food each day. I am delighted to welcome Janet Poppendieck from the City University of New York Urban Food Policy Institute to this podcast. She is the author of “Free for All: Fixing School Lunch in America.”

E78: How NC School Nutrition Programs are Grappling with Covid

June 16, 2020

On March 14th of this year when Governor Cooper issued his Executive Order and closed North Carolina public schools statewide, the first challenge was how do we continue to offer this essential service and feed our students? This podcast is part of a series focused on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our food system. Today we’re looking at how North Carolina’s School Meal Programs have adapted during the pandemic and how some school children are continuing to get the nutrition that they need.

E77: School Meals During a Pandemic – What Works with Katie Wilson

June 3, 2020

About 33 million children access school meals every day across the country. Today, we’re exploring the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on young students: children who receive much needed nutrition through their school. We interviewed Dr. Katie Wilson, executive director of the Urban School Food Alliance. The Urban School Food Alliance is a nonprofit coalition of the largest school districts in the U.S, including New York, LA, Chicago, Dallas, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Boston.

E46: Charlie Cart’s Carolyn Federman on Food, Fun, and Classrooms

September 10, 2019

Americans have become distant from their food. It was once the case that people either grew food themselves or perhaps, just one step away from it, buying food from farmers or from markets served by local farmers, but boy, is it ever different now. Food is processed, it’s shipped long distances, and people are less in touch with how food is created, how to cook it, and more. There are some impressive efforts underway to help correct this problem. Some of the more impressive ones that focused on children such as the work of Carolyn Federman, the inspiration behind a highly innovative program known as Charlie Cart.

Podcast Topic: School Meals

Podcast Topic: School Meals

E221: Understanding Poverty, Wellbeing, and Food Security for US Children

E215: When Kids Age Out of WIC Support

E203: It works – Chile’s Law on Food Labeling and Marketing

E190: Insights from 2nd Global Survey of School Meals

E136: When North Carolina Schools Offer Free Meals Academic Success Follows

E113: The Power of Policy and Parents in School Meals

E81: Time for Universal Free School Meals

E78: How NC School Nutrition Programs are Grappling with Covid

E77: School Meals During a Pandemic – What Works with Katie Wilson

E46: Charlie Cart’s Carolyn Federman on Food, Fun, and Classrooms

Podcast Topic: School Meals

The Leading Voices in Food

Podcast Topic: School Meals